Start Loving Again
by HJfan
Summary: AU Nathan/Haley. She's a single mother and has a great relationship with her son. He's a famous basketball player but wants something more. They will start loving and living again. Please Read & Review!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Haley started gathering her things through the apartment. Her day hadn't started well; the alarm didn't go off so she didn't wake up at the right time. She usually didn't use the alarm because she got used to waking up early everyday, but yesterday she worked overnight at home and went to bed almost at 3 am.

It wasn't necessary for her to do that work but she offered to do it anyways. She wish she didn't but oh well, now it was too late. Literally.

"Brian, come on. Did you get all your stuff?" Haley asks to her thirteen years old son while getting her cell phone and thinking to herself if she was forgetting anything.

"Yes, mom." He replied. Brian was a smart kid and very responsible. He got all that from his mother. Haley never forced him to be like that, but he really admired his mother for being very competent in her work. It was from her example that Brian learned how to be a good person.

Even thought Haley was always busy with work, she never let that affect her life with her son. Brian always came first. The problem was that Haley, herself, was always the last one on the list.

"Did you get your homework?"

"Yep"

"Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yep"

"Did I give you the money for your lunch?"

"Yep"

They were in the hall and Haley was closing the door. "Ok, where's the keys?" She asked.

"I think it's on the other side of the door mom." Brian answered a little amused.

"Why didn't say that before?" Haley exclaimed while looking at her son with a hand on her hips.

"Because it's funny seeing your reaction." He tells his mother with a grin.

"You like to see me suffer, huh?" Haley said messing his hair up.

"It never gets old." The boy answered laughing at the face his mom made.

Haley parked in front of school and looked at her watch. "Do you want me to pick you up later?"

"Can I go with Jess to the park? His old brother is in town so we wanted to play some basketball there. Is it okay?"

"Sure, you can go. Just don't forget the time to come back home and don't forget to call me, okay?"

"Okay. I gotta go."

"Alright. Have a good day. I love you." Haley said hugging her son.

"I love you too, mom."

"Good Morning, Rachel." Haley greeted her co-worker when she arrived at the work.

"You're late, Haley." Rachel stated.

"Yes, I know but I did the work." Haley told her and saw Rachel rolling her eyes as a response.

"That woman is a bitch." Kristen exclaimed sitting in her chair. Kristen and Haley were good friends, they got along since day one. She has always helped Haley every time couldn't be at work when something happened at home. They've been friends for almost six years, since Haley started working there.

When Haley first told Kristen she was a mother, Kristen was really surprised.

"She likes to bother me a lot." Haley sighed. She always tried to be nice to Rachel but only got nasty comments from the red haired woman. She doesn't care anymore but it\rquote s still annoying.

"That's because you're the best worker here. And the only reason she still has her job is because the boss bimbo is her secretary."

"Kristen!" Haley exclaimed.

"What Haley? You know it's true." She affirmed, laughing when saw her friend shaking her head.

Kristen kept looking at her friend and Haley eyed her back. "What now?" Haley asked knowing that something was up. "Nothing, I was just curious, wanting to know if you have plans for Saturday night?" Kristen asked innocently.

Haley gave her a wry smile before answering the question. "Yes, I'll stay with Brian."

"He can stay at one of his friend's." Kristen said, knowing that Haley always did that. "Haley, you can't stay single forever. You always made up some excuse, Brian is not a baby anymore. It's time for you to start dating again."

She knew that. But it was hard for her entering in this "world" again. She had tried sometimes, had been on a few dates with a few different guys, but it never got past the first date. Deep inside, she knew she never let it past the first one. It was like her heart had an alarm that went off every time she tried to start a new relationship.

"I just haven't found any interesting guy." Haley tries to reason.

"You don't even try." Kristen interjected. "You're a gorgeous woman, intelligent, funny and interesting. Every guy would like to go out with you, and I'm sure every man who works in this building has a crush on you. And you don't even notice that."

"You're exaggerating."

"Just think about it." Kristen tried to convince her.

Haley eyed her Kristen knowing she wouldn't give up. "Ok, I'll think about it." she nodded. Maybe Kristen was right, she thought.

* * *

Nathan was sitting on his couch drinking and thinking about life. He's twenty six year old, single, handsome and very rich. He was a famous basketball player and had everything he wanted.

Maybe not everything.

He still felt a hole in his life. And the last piece that was missing made everything else become too little, almost like nothing. He didn't want to be ungrateful for every thing he had gotten in his life. Nathan worked hard to reach his goals but he knew he was lucky to have the opportunity at the right time. But right now, it didn't make sense not having anyone to share everything.

Nathan heard the cell phone ring and went to get it. It was his manager.

"What do you want?"

"Nathan, did you forget you have a interview today?"

"I won't go." Nathan stated simply.

"You what? Nathan, you can't cancel at the last hour."

"Yes I can." He told his manager. "Besides, the interview is for a crappy magazine that only has gossip and shit like that."

Nathan heard his manager groan on the other side of the line, showing defeat. "Fine! I give up. Do what you want. Just don't come complaining if the magazine publishes bad things about you." He warned.

"Don't worry about it."

"I won't."

"Whatever. I gotta go." And then Nathan hang up. Looking at the time, Nathan decided to go out to clear his head. He needed some fresh air; his lonely apartment was suffocating him in the moment.

* * *

"What about a new game?" The boy suggested to the others.

"Okay, just one more because I'm too tired." The other boy said taking deep breaths while his hands rested on his knees.

"You may be a little rusty, Mike." Jess teased.

"Yeah, I really don't know why I picked you." Adam commented glaring at his friend.

"Oh, didn't you say you could beat us on the game all by yourself?" Jess teased his big brother.

"I thought so, but Brian there has definitely improved his game. I remember the last time we played and the game wasn't that hard."

"Maybe we can bet next time." Jess suggested.

"That's because Brian is on your team." Mike said.

"Let's stop the talking, can we go back to the game?"

"Mike, play a little more hard this time."

"Shut up Adam!"

Nathan watched the boys playing basketball for a while. It reminded him the time when he was their age and used to play at the river court. He had some good memories. Even though his dad always made like it was a nightmare, when Nathan was at the river court with his friends, he could enjoy the game.

The ball came his way while he was thinking about the past but with a reflex, caught the ball before it could hit his face.

The boys stopped dead on their tracks seeing the familiar face in front of them.

"Nathan Scott I'm a huge fan!" Someone finally said something.

Nathan looked at the boys face and saw the same reaction he always got from his fans. It was nice to be recognized for his work.

He asked if he could play with them. They couldn't believe what they heard but of course they agreed. They started playing for a while, with Nathan giving some instructions of how to shoot the ball or doing some dribbles. They listened to everything and tried to show the best to their idol.

It was getting late so they decided to finish the game. The boys actually didn't want to, but Nathan said it was better to stop because it was time to go home.

At home, Haley was in the kitchen finishing dinner when Brian appeared in the room. He had taken a shower right after he got home and finished doing his homework.

"You must be hungry, huh?" Haley questioned with a smile.

"Actually, I'm starving." Brian corrected her which made Haley laugh.

"Wow, was it the game or the homework that took all your energy?" She asked to his son while putting the food on his plate.

"Oh, it was definitely the game. The homework was really easy, I finished doing it in less than five minutes." He stated with a smirk.

"Is that right, smartass?"

"So how was the game?"

"It was great! We were playing there and then the ball want out of the court and someone got the ball and when we saw who it was..." Brian was telling Haley when her phone rang.

"Sorry, Hun. Just a minute." She excused herself and went to pink up the phone.

It was from work as always. Her boss was telling Haley to finish doing the report earlier. She had finished already but needed to check if everything alright. I guess I'll need to do that tonight, she thought.

"What did he want?" her son asked when she entered the room.

"He want me to send him the report earlier." She replied sitting on her chair to finish her dinner.

They re-started their conversation while finishing eating. Brian talked about his day at school, his new project he needed to do and Haley said she would help him. Even if he could do it all by himself, she loved to be part of it, helping and wanting to see what he did. She was a tutor in high school and now she has her son. She remembered how it was for her.

After dinner, he helped her with the dishes, they watched some TV and then they went to bed. Brian went to his bedroom to sleep, he was exhausted from the game. Haley placed herself on the center of her bed, and grabbed the papers that she had put on her nightstand before, she needed to finish her work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for the replies and everybody who's reading this fic. I hope you guys are liking it, and please, leave a review after reading it, any questions and suggestions are welcome. This is my first fic ever, so I'm doing my best to keep updating regularly. Here's the next chapter.**

**Chapter 2**

Nathan was still in his manager's office, Jack's secretary had called him to remind him about the meeting he'd marked this morning. Nathan wasn't too excited about it but he needed to go. When he first started, Nathan was very enthusiastic about everything. He met Jack when he became a pro and since then, Jack is still his manager. They fought some times; Nathan was very stubborn and didn't like to carry all this responsibility.

But Jack was always worried about keeping Nathan's foot on the ground. It was very important to have someone mature and with a clear head beside a young man who had just started too much and too fast. There are a lot of mercenary people out there just wanting to find someone callow.

His thoughts went back to yesterday when he played with the kids. He had a good time and remembered the time when he was younger. He saw this teenage boy, who was great and reminded of Nathan himself. He seemed more free and relaxed though; probably didn't have a Dan Scott around him.

"Nathan, are you listening?" Jack snapped, bringing Nathan back from his thoughts.

"Yes, do whatever you think is better, I just don't want to make more commercials." Nathan declared.

"They are offering you a lot, it's huge deal." Jack tried to argue.

"I don't care about the money anymore. I have enough and I don't want any more publicity."

"What's going on Nathan?" His manager asked.

"I just don't want more fame. I'm satisfied how I am now with my career. There are other things that I want to achieve at the moment." His client revealed.

"A little too soon for you to be thinking about that?" Jack wondered.

"Maybe, but I have been on my own for a while, longer than most of people at my age. I don't want to end up like my father." Nathan confessed.

"But you're not like your father." Jack stated.

Jack knew Nathan's past history, maybe not everything but he knew the most part. It must have been a nightmare living with Dan Scott, and having him as a father.

"And I don't want to become him, ever." Nathan added as he stood up.

"Then stop worrying about it."

"I'll try." Nathan said before leaving the office.

* * *

After school, Brian went back home with his friend Jess, they're neighbors. They finished the school project and then went to play video games. Jess had to go out with his mother who asked him to help with some stuffs. Brian decided to go out and play basketball so he called his mom to let her know where he was.

"So, you always come here to play?" Nathan asked.

"More often."

"You are a pretty good player, Brian" Nathan commented while watching the boy shoot the ball.

"You remember my name?" Brian turned to him.

"Of course. I'm not that old." Nathan joked.

"I didn't mean that."

"I know. I was only joking." He reassured with a grin.

"Do you mind if I play with you?" Nathan asked.

"No, of course I don't mind." Brian answered quickly.

The two of them kept playing, sometimes they talked, the conversation was more about basketball of course. Their favorite players, the best team of the league at the moment. Nathan told him about how it is to play in the NBA. Brian couldn't believe he was talking to Nathan Scott. He was one of his favorite players. He didn't know how he was keeping cool. Perhaps it was the fact that Nathan acted normal and down to earth. It wasn't like he was talking to the big star Nathan Scott. He felt comfortable and felt like he was just getting along with a new friend he met yesterday.

Nathan enjoyed the kid's company. He thought Brian was a good kid, it wasn't like him. His personality started changing when he was about eleven years old. When he was fifteen, he became a bad boy. He was tired of his dad and all the pressure. He was popular at school but knew that everyone just got closer to him because of that. He acted like he didn't care, but deep down he felt lonely.

They took a break and decided to drink some water. "So is your father a basketball fan too?"

"I don't know, I've never met him." Brian said shortly.

"Sorry, I didn't..."

"It's okay." The boy reassured.

"If you don't wanna talk about that..."

"No, I don't mind."

"So you live just with your mom or do you have any siblings?" Nathan asked.

"No siblings, I only live with my mom." Brian answered and then continued. "But I can't complain about it. My mom is the best, we're very close." He smiled.

"That's good to hear. Usually at your age, conflicts start with the parents. It happened with me."

"Yeah, but we have a great relationship. She always puts me first. And it's always been hard for her to take care of me, being a single mother. I saw her struggle through the years, we got even closer because of that." Brian explained.

"And you never wanted to know about your father?" Nathan questioned very curious.

"Yes, and my mom doesn't mind talking about it. I can ask anything and she promised she would answer anything, but the problem is that I'm afraid of the truth." Brian declared looking to the ground.

"I understand that." Nathan said. "So, do you wanna play a little more?" Nathan asked deciding to change the subject.

"Sure!"

* * *

_"Hello, can I speak to Miss James?" The woman asked on the phone._

_"Yes, it's her, Haley James speaking." Haley responded._

_"I'm calling you because your son Brian is not feeling very well." The woman informed._

_"What? What\rquote s he feeling?" Haley questioned alarmed. _

_"I think he has fever. Do you think you can come here?"_

_"Yes! Yes, I'll be there. Tell him I'm going to pick up him."_

_"Ok, I'll tell him."_

_"Thanks." Haley hang up the phone and started to get her stuff quickly and put on her purse._

_"Haley, what happened?" Martha asked._

_"It's Brian, he has fever and I need to go get him and take him to the doctor." _

_"Could you take care of the things here for me? I really need to go." _

_"Yes, sure! I can do that."_

_"Ok, thank you so much. I owe you." She thanked Martha and left fast to see her son._

_"Hey baby, what happened?" Haley asked as she caressed her son's head._

_"Hi mommy, I'm sick." Brian whispered._

_"Ok, I'm gonna take you to the doctor now." Haley assured with him on her arms and grabbing his bag. _

_Brian was now sleeping peacefully on his bed. The doctor said it was a little infection he got but nothing serious. He wrote a prescription some medications and now the fever was almost gone. Haley decided to call Martha._

_"Yes, now he's fine, the fever is almost gone." Haley told her._

_"How was work after I left?" She wondered._

_"No, everything went fine. I've sent the papers you asked. Don't worry about it."_

_"Thank you Martha. I really appreciate your help."_

_"No problem Haley. You know I owe you big time for when I first started here and you helped me with pretty much everything. I'm just returning the favor." _

_"Thank you, Martha. I'll see you tomorrow at work."_

_Haley hang up the phone and turned to take a look at her son. He was still sleeping like an angel, she could stay like that forever, watching him. She loved Brian more than anything, he was everything to her. _

_She started approaching him, caressing his cheek softly and kissed his forehead. The fever was gone. She sighed relieved and saw Brian's eyes opening slowly. _

_"Hey baby." She smiled to his son._

_"Sleep here wit me?" _

_"Of course, Hun." She lowered down beside him and started singing to him. He went back to sleep quickly, and a few minutes after that, Haley went to sleep too._

"Everything is done." Haley sighed relieved.

"Thank God." Kristen stretching her arms.

"Well, I think I can go meet Brian at the park." Haley commented looking at her watch.

"The boy loves basketball, huh?"

"Yes, and he definitely didn't get this from me."

"But he's a bookworm just like you, too. He has brains, the looks and is good at sports. The boy has it all."

"Who can resist that?" Martha commented.

"He's a heart breaker already." Kristen added.

"Do you wanna come with me?"

"Well, I don't have much to do at home since my TV is broken."

"That TV is old and it's always broken, Why don't to buy a new one?" Haley asked confused.

"Because Will fixes it for free." Kristen replied naturally.

"That's because he has a thing for you." Haley declared.

"And till he has this thing I won't need to buy a new TV." Kristen said with a grin on her face.

"You're impossible." Haley said shaking her head amused.

"I know that."

"So, are you coming with me?"

"Sure, I wanna see Brian. I miss that boy. I haven't seen him for so long." Kristen declared.

"The last time you saw him was last weekend." Haley stated.

"Don't you think that is long enough?"

"Let's go Kristen."

* * *

It was getting late. He always stayed playing there the same time. When he'd leave there early he'd call his mom.

"I think I'm gonna go home now." Brian announced.

"Yea, I think I need to head back too. My manager is probably going crazy trying to find me."

"Why you don't wanna talk to him?"

"It's kind of complicated."

"Adult thing?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Nathan laughed

"Hey Brian!" A female voice said behind them.

Brian saw his mom and Kristen coming behind Nathan. "Hey!" Brian shouted surprised and went to hug his mother. "I didn't know you were coming."

"We didn't either. We got out of the work early so we decided to make a surprise."

"Hey there Brian." Kristen waved to him.

"Where are your friends?" Haley asked looking around.

"They couldn't come today. But I've found someone else to play with me. We met yesterday here." He took her hands and led her to the court. Nathan was with his back turned to them while he grabbed his bottle of water at the bench. He heard Brian talking to someone else so he decided to check his cell phone. Jack had been calling him a lot.

"I want you to meet someone." Nathan heard Brian's voice, he was coming behind him.

"Mom, this is the person I mentioned yesterday, Nathan Scott."

"Nathan, this is my mom, Haley."

They both looked at each other with shocked faces. It had been years since they last saw each other. And now, years later, they'd met again.

"Nathan."

"Haley"

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much for all the reviews. You guys are the best! Before I forget to mention it, ****cyke93 asked about Nathan's age and I need to make a correction, Nathan is 29. I've already edited the first chapter and thank you cyke93 for asking, I didn't see the mistake before posting the chapter. Ok, here's the next chapter. Read and Review! )**

**Chapter 3**

It had been many years and now they were finally seeing each other again. The whole moment only took seconds but it seemed much more. Nathan couldn't believe what he was seeing, the image of Haley James in front of him again made his heart beat faster. She has changed a lot, her hair was more dark and short, her face looked more mature but it was still delicate and her big brown eyes still held this sweetness and innocence he loved.

Haley didn't know how but she could've swore she stopped breathing. She thought she would never see him ever again. And now he was standing right in front of her. He looked different, he was no longer that boy anymore she had met years ago, he was a man now, a handsome one she thought. He had this socked face for a moment and then it changed to a confused one.

Before he could say anything she spoke first. "It's nice to meet you." Haley smiled.

Not sure if Haley had recognize him, Nathan thought it was better to follow through.

"It's nice to meet you too." Nathan greeted back.

"So Brian, where do you want eat?" Kristen asked the boy, changing the subject.

Haley was feeling nervous and to her luck the cellphone started ringing. "Hello?" She answered the her cellphone while excusing herself.

"It's probably from work." Brian commented.

"Yes, they can't leave her alone for a second." Kristen agreed.

"Well, I guess we need to get going." Kristen spoke again when she watched her friend really busy taking some notes.

"I gotta go too." Nathan stated sounding a little sad. He knew it was not possible to continue anything now and it was getting late.

They said goodbye and they went to opposite directions, Nathan turned his head to look one more time, Haley who was getting in the car still talking on the cellphone caught him looking at her, so she waved to him, he saw it and waved back, smiling at her.

* * *

Later at night after they had dinner, Haley and Kristen were talking in the kitchen while Brian was watching TV in his bedroom. 

"I had no idea Brian and Nathan knew each other." Haley exclaimed.

"He never mentioned anything to you?" Kristen asked curiously.

"Now that I remember, I think he said something about meeting someone yesterday but I got a phone call from our boss and then I guess I forgot to ask more about it later." Haley deduced.

"Isn't it funny?" Kristen commented amused.

"What?" Haley asked.

"That Brian would meet Nathan and they would start to play basketball together. Small world." Kristen concluded.

"Yeah, really funny. I'm laughing inside." Haley said sarcastically. Not finding anything amusing at all, actually, it was far from amusing. She almost had a heart attack thought to herself.

"Ok, sorry sorry." Kristen tried to apologize still grinning.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Kristen questioned now with a serious face.

"I don't know, I haven't stopped to think about it yet." Haley answered starting to feel nervous with the whole situation. It was something unexpected, she didn't know what to do yet, but knew she needed to think about it all carefuly.

"I just... It was so intense seeing Nathan again." She revealed with a deep sigh.

"You have that look." Her friend noted.

"What look?" Haley asked.

"The look of love." Kristen sing songed.

"Kristen, seriously..."

"I'm not kidding, it's the truth." Kristen declared.

"You're delusional." Haley said shaking her head. Seeing her friend still looking at her with a I'm-not-buying-it face she added. "It's the first time I've seen him for years, I'm just stunned. It's very natural."

"If you say so..." She said before finishing her drink.

"Ok, I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Kristen." Haley said hugging her friend.

When Kristen left the kitchen, Haley heard her saying goodbye to Brian. Then her mind started to bring back some old memories.

* * *

_"I need a tutor." Nathan stated with an unfazed tone._

_Haley turned around to look at him before saying. "And why should I care?" She asked using the same tone he did before._

_"Well, aren't you a tutor?" He asked the obvious thing._

_"Yes, I am. But I don't tutor anyone, just students who actually wants the help and really cares to learn something." The girl explained._

_"I want help." He stated getting annoyed._

_"It doesn't seen like you want." Haley said before turning around to look for some papers on the desk. She couldn't believe the nerve the guy had. He needed help, but didn't want to ask for it, he demanded it. Too bad for him Haley didn't curved to him, like everyone else at school. The dark haired boy was starting to realize that so he decided to be honest._

_"Look, I really need your help. I have bad grades and if I don't get better the coach will kick me out of the basketball team. And even thought I don't care about the other classes, I really want to stay on the team. So I'd do anything." Nathan stopped, thinking she would say something but she kept silent, so he continued. "Your the best tutor here. Please help me?" He finished softly._

_Haley looked up and saw sincerity in his eyes. She was really shocked to hear everything she heard, specially coming from Nathan, he probably was shocked hearing himself saying all that too. He started to fell a little bit anxious, which was a first for Nathan Scott. Actually, everything a was feeling new to him at the moment. He had never been so honest nor had never asked anything to anyone with such a pleading tone. He would usually put a smirk on his pretty face and get everything he wanted. But at the moment he looked at her big brown eyes, really looked at them, and he knew that the best way was being honest and transparent with her._

_He didn't want to start analyzing that, mostly because it wasn't in his nature so he pushed off those thoughts and looked back at her, waiting for an answer._

_"I'll think about it." Haley told him._

_"what?" Nathan exclaimed incredulous._

_"I have other students to tutor, I need to check my schedule to see if I can add you. You know, I have a my own classes and I have a life outside here." _

_"Not a social life. I've never seen you in any of my parties." He smirked at her._

_"And you're never going to see me in one of those because getting wasted till I puke and then waking up in a place thinking where the hell I am while having a huge hangover is not my ideal of having fun."_

_"Yeah, probably your ideal of having fun is staying in your home sitting on a old armchair knotting."_

_"Anything could be better as long as I don't have you around me." Haley exclaimed._

_"Fine! So I'll make you a favor." Nathan said angrily before leaving the tutoring center._

_"This guy is unbelievable." Haley said. She was so angry she wanted to scream out loud._

* * *

Nathan smiled, remembering that first time they met. He couldn't believe how such a tiny person could drive him crazy. He knew since the beginning Haley was something else. And later he realized who she was. Someone he have never thought he would meet, someone who made him believe in love. 

He sighed leaning back on his leather chair in his office at home. He was reading some papers that Jack made sure he read and after he finished them, his thoughts went back to his encounter with Haley hours before.

He never expected he would ever see her again, he hoped he would and many times he had dreams about her. But seeing her again was much better than any dream he had before. This was the real deal. God she looked so damn gorgeous he thought.

Then it hit him. Haley had a son and her son was Brian. He had been playing basketball with him in these past days.

They were living in the same city and Nathan had no idea. But now that he was aware of that he was gonna do anything to find her again. Nathan picked up the phone and started to make some calls.

Now that Nathan knew Haley was here near him, he wasn't going to let her go away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Haley was sitting on her bed almost finishing reading her book when she heard her phone ringing. God who must been calling at this time she groaned to herself._

_"Hello." She answered the phone._

_"Can I please speak to Haley?" She frowned when she heard a gentle voice._

_"This is her. Who is it?" _

_"Oh, hey Haley, it's me, Nathan." The boy answered naturally._

_Her eyes went wide, she was having a lovely evening and she wouldn't let him ruin it. "Oh no, you've got to be kidding me! Goodbye Nat..." _

_"Wait Haley! Please, don't hang up." He said quickly._

_"How did you get my number anyway?" Haley asked curiously._

_"I have my ways." Nathan replied with a smirk on his face._

_"Oh I bet." She said rolling her eyes. "What do you want?"_

_"I wanted to say I'm sorry for acting like a jerk with you. I didn't mean to say all those things. I was really angry because I had no other choice and I din't want to get kicked out of the team."_

_"Then you decided to take all your anger on me."_

_"I know and I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that."_

_"It's okay."_

_"So, could you tutor me?"_

_"Uh I've already checked my schedule and I saw I could tutor you."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yes, we'll start tomorrow morning, be at the docks at 7 am."_

_"Why so early and not at the tutoring center?"_

_"Because I don't have any more time at the tutoring center, it's full already and this is the only way I can tutor you." She declared firmly. _

_He knew he didn't have much choice. He needed to get help but he didn't want any of those nerds of the tutoring center. Haley was the best tutor and even thought he didn't want to admit to himself yet, he felt attracted by her when they had their first encounter at the tutoring center._

_"Ok, I'll be there." He answered before she could change her mind._

_"Thank you Hales." He said softly. _

_She didn't know why but she felt her body shiver when she heard him saying her nickname. It felt different coming from his mouth. _

_"Goodbye Nathan." She said wanting to end this conversation._

_She sighed and lay down on her bed. She didn't know if she had made the right decision but she decided to follow her instincts and for some reason that was what they were telling her to do. He didn't give up after she had said no to him, so she decided to give him a second chance._

* * *

"So, we'll go out tonight right?" 

"I don't think so..."

"Oh no Haley, we will!"

"Kristen..."

"Hales, I'm begging here."

Before Haley could say anything she saw that her friends were looking right past her and when she turned around her head she saw Nathan waiting at the door smiling at her. She blinked her eyes a couple of times thinking maybe she was dreaming or seeing things, either way it was fine for her as long as this wasn't reality.

She looked around slowly, she was still in her office, Nathan was still standing there looking at her, waiting for some kind of reaction. She walked to him quickly.

"Hey!" He said with a wide smile.

"Hey. What are you doing here Nathan?" She whispered not wanting anyone to listen to their conversation. She could already feel a pair of eyes on her.

"I wanted to see you." Nathan declared with a grin that made Haley melt inside.

"How did you get the address of where I work?"

"I have my ways." He said smirking at her, saying the same thing he had said to her years ago, and he knew she remembered too for the look on her face.

"Nathan, I can't stand here chatting with you, I need to go back to work."

"Well, can we have lunch together at your break?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes, I guess we can." She said with a small smile. She didn't know if this was a good idea but she couldn't say no to him when he looked with those pleading blue eyes.

"Great!"

"You can be back in third minutes." She informed him looking at the clock on the wall.

"Ok, see you soon." He said winking at her before leaving the office.

Haley watched him leave and waited a few seconds. She wasn't sure if she wanted to turn around and depare with her friends. She took a long breath before turning around to face them.

"I guess you have a date." Kristen stated cheaply.

"One hot date." Martha added.

"It's not a date, we're just going to have lunch together."

"Whatever you say. Just please, give us all the details later."

* * *

_"I thought you wouldn't come."_

_"Oh I wouldn't miss for anything."_

_"Did you bring up your books?" She asked ignoring his comment._

_"Yep."_

_He was staring at her._

_"What?"_

_"Nothing, I'm just looking at you."_

_"Wonderful, and what's the reason?"_

_"I think you should let your hair down, tho you look cute with your hair in a ponytail too."_

_Haley started to feel her cheeks red with blush. He laughed seeing her blushing, he enjoyed making her blush. He could make any girl blush easily only with Haley he loved to watch her cheeks went to every tone of red. And the fact that she always tried to resist, it made even more enjoyable. He felt a suddenly urge to caress her skin. _

_"Whatever. Let's focus here Nathan." Haley spoke trying to change the subject._

_"I am." he said resting his jaw on his hand watching her with a smirk._

_"Nathan, you need to take this seriously. I'm not going to waste my time here listening to your stupid comments, if you wanna learn I'll help you otherwise let me know and I'll leave now." _

_"Ok, ok I'll stop it. We can start now."_

_They opened their books and she started explaining while he went back to keep staring at her face, nodding his head when she would ask if he was understanding what she was saying._

* * *

"This is a nice place." Haley commented looking around the restaurant. 

"Yes, and the food is great."

They sat on their chairs, ordered their food and it felt a silent. Neither of them knew what to say. Since Nathan was the one who invited her, he started talking.

"How have you been?" Nathan asked breaking the silence.

"I've been good." She answered shortly not knowing what else to say. She didn't know why she was felling so nervous.

"Brian is a good kid. We've talked quite a bit lately and he seems like is a smart kid and really down to earth."

"He is wonderful. I'm very lucky to have him as a son." She said proudly. He smiled seeing how her face changed when she talked about her son. She had the same loving look that Brian had when the boy had told more about his mom to Nathan.

"He is very proud of you too." He said honestly. Haley now started felling very hot with Nathan's intense gaze on her.

"And how's everything with you Nathan?" Haley asked trying to keep it cool.

"I can't complain much. I've reached my goals with basketball and right now I just wanna settle down."

They kept having their conversation while eating their meal, never mentioning anything about the past. They were afraid to bring it up all those old memories so they had preferred to focus on getting to know what they have been doing with each other's lifes.

At first, Haley felt very nervous about this encounter, but soon she started to relax. It was amazing how after so many years they still could connect so quickly. Nathan had never been a good talker or listener, specially with women. He always went straight to the point without saying many words.

But he always felt comfortable around Haley. In highschool when he had a lot of bad things going on in his life he would always open up to Haley and it didn't feel weird. He felt relieved. She had been very important in his life, he didn't know if he would have been able to live through everything without her in his life.

Now they were together again talking about their life apart.

"I missed you." He declared honestly looking at her. They were now standing in front of her work building.

She looked up surprised at his sudden declaration but decided to do the same. "I missed you too."

"Thank you for the lunch. I had a great time."

"It was my pleasure." Surprising her, he placed a tender kiss on her right cheek. He saw a blush crept on her face.

"Goodbye Nathan."

* * *

"How did the date go?" 

"It went good." Haley said lying back on her bed. She was felling really tired, all she wanted now was have a good night of sleep.

"Please Haley I want more details." Kristen begged.

"We went to some really nice restaurant. The food was wonderful. I ordered fish with salad. It was delicious. I'm thinking of going there more often."

"That's awesome. But you know that's not what I want to know."

"Oh, really?" Haley said trying to sound surprised but couldn't hold back her amusement.

Haley and Kristen had been friends for years and since they first met they had got along pretty well. At first, Haley didn't talk about her past but Kristen already knew her and felt that Haley had been through some pretty tough stuff in life, even thought she was really young. Later Haley decided to tell Kristen everything, it was very hard for her to open up to someone, specially about some sad and bad memories.

She felt very vulnerable talking about all those things but she also felt very relieved to confide her past to someone. All those years she had been keeping those emotions to herself, she had nobody to confide. She had moved on and had handled everything pretty well, but her heart was still broken.

When Kristen found out about Haley's history she was stunned. She felt for Haley and wanted to help her. They got closer even more with the situation. Kristen also couldn't help but fell very intrigued with everything. She had supported Haley and when they saw Nathan, Kristen wanted to help her friend.

"I want to know how everything went with you and Nathan."

"It went lovely. We talked about what we had been doing during those past years, with our life and career."

"Did you guys talked about highschool?"

"No, no. We didn't dare to talk about the past, but our encounter still brought old feeling that had been buried." Haley confessed.

"It's very natural. What you two had was something very intense."

"He said he missed me and I said I missed him as well." She whispered softly and smiled timidly when she heard her friend squealing at the other side of the line. Kristen was excited like it was her favorite novel. Haley didn't fell it was entertainenting since it was her own life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so much for the reviews. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter more than the last one. I just have to tell you guys that the mistery isn't who is Brian's father.**

**Chapter 5**

Today was a different morning. Brian noticed that when he saw his mom taking extra time to get ready for work. She usually did her hair and make up very quickly, at least faster than most of women he thought of.

But this morning she was having problems to choose which clothes to use to go to work.

"If I don't have much work today, I think I can pick you up at the park so we can go buy that game you wanted," Haley offered while looking at the mirror.

"I'm not sure if I'm gonna go to play there. Jess is grounded for a week so he can't go out."

"Well, Nathan won't be there?"

"I don't know. I mean, he must be a busy man," the boy declared.

"Alright then, but let me know if you decide to go there, ok?"

"Ok," he agreed. He had been ready for a while and was now watching television as he waited for his mom.

"Why are you taking so long to get ready?"

Haley meet her son's gaze and tried to explain herself.

"Who me? I ... I'm just taking care of my appearance. It's important," She stuttered.

"You never cared so much," He noted suspiciously.

"Are you saying I'm careless about my appearance?"

"You've never been concerned about your appearance before?" Brian pointed out. He wanted to laugh when he saw her shocked expression in the mirror as she glared at herself.

"Never mind," He said chuckling.

"Oh no buddy, now that you've started you have to finish it." She said with one hand on her hips.

"I just think you don't need all that, you're so beautiful," He said to her honestly.

"Honey, come here." She hugged his son and kissed his head. "You know I love you right?"

"Of course, mom. And I love you too." He responded seeing how soften she got.

"I know." She whispered softly.

* * *

_"Check that out." Nathan said showing up his test._

_"Nathan that's amazing!" Haley said excitedly with a big smile on her face as she saw an 84 on his test. She jumped into is arms and hugged him. Nathan leaned down and embraced her petite body in his arms._

_"Congratulations!"_

_"I'm really proud of you. You deserve it." She whispered in his ear, they were still holding each other._

_Nathan felt a different sensation in his body hearing her sweet voice. He was feeling really happy at the moment. This was better than any game he had ever won._

_Sure he loved when his team won the game, but there was always his dad there to screw up all the celebration. Nathan never played good enough in his father's eyes._

_That really bothered him more than he could admit to himself. The parties were a way to get wasted and forget all the crap in his life._

_Right now it wasn't like that. He wanted to stay completely sober and enjoy the moment._

_The look in her eyes, the smile on her face, all the excitement she showed up, these were things he thought he could never forget._

_He felt her loosen her hold around his and he reluctantly did the same._

_"I knew you could make it, Nathan. I always believed in you." He looked at her surprised with her statement._

_"You did?" Nathan asked timidly._

_"Of course! You're really smart, Nathan. You just needed some effort."_

_"Well, you had made things a lot easier. I have never thought I could ever understand all that shit." He heard her laugh which made him smile._

_"It's not that hard, you just needed to see it thought the right way."_

_"And I learned that with you."_

_Nathan started felling a little bit nervous. He had never done this before. Calm down Nathan or you gonna ruin everything he thought to himself._

_Haley watched him carefully._

_"Is there something wrong Nathan?" She asked with a concerned look._

_"I have another surprise for you." He declared._

_"Another surprised? What is it?" She asked giddily._

_He grabbed a box from his pocket and handed it to her. He had no idea how to do all this._

_"This is for you." He blurted._

_"What is this?" Haley asked curiously while looking at the box on her hand._

_"Open it."_

_She did what he said and opened the box. She gasped when she saw what it was and_

_Nathan watched every movement and reaction she made, unsure if it was something good or bad._

_"This is a thank you gift." Nathan stated not knowing what else to do._

_The gift was a silver bracelet, it was very simple but beautiful. Haley stared at it bitting her lip, she thought it was delicate and gorgeous._

_"I can't take it." Haley finally said handing the gift back to him._

_"What?" Nathan asked surprised, a little bit disappointed with her reaction. "I don't understand Haley. Why not?"_

_"This is an expensive gift, Nathan." She tried to reason._

_"It doesn't matter how much it did cost. This is my thank you gift. A way to show you that I really appreciate everything you've done for me. You taught me, you helped me, you believed in me and made me believe in myself. I was a jerk to you at the beginning and you gave me another change, you've been patient and comprehensive. This is not an obligation, this is something I wanted to do."_

_"Please, accept it."_

_Haley tried hard to hold back her tears, she never thought Nathan could be so sweet. The butterflies on her stomach were flying wildly. She tried to brush it off and calm down._

_Then she offered her wrist to him and he put the bracelet on her. Haley felt a shiver run up her spine at the first contact of his hands on her arm. When he finished putting the bracelet on her, he ran his hand on her skin and gave a small squeeze on her hand._

_She let out a soft sigh before started to speak. "It's really beautiful, Nathan. I love it. Thank you." Nathan heard her saying and looked into her eyes seeing she truly meant that._

_"You're welcome." Nathan replied with a smirk. The one he only gives to her, the one she used to say she hated but that deep inside she loved it._

_After that they went out to celebrate together. That day they would never forget._

* * *

Haley was leaving the office, she was heading out early just like she had planed. Brian had called her informing that he got bored so he decided to go out and play.

So now she was going to pick him up. She didn't want to admit to herself but deep inside her she wished Nathan was there too. She wanted to deny that the possibility of seeing him again made her excited.

But she also couldn't brush it off the voice inside her head that said she was not sixteen anymore. She was a mother now. She had Brian and he always came first.

She was starting to freak out and thought it wasn't a good idea to offer to pink him up anymore.

_Ugh Haley, stop thinking too much!_

When she reached the place, Haley saw Brian and Nathan playing basketball together.

She stayed watching them play for several minutes till Brian spotted her and waved to his mother. Nathan saw her too and smiled.

"Hey guys. I was just there waiting you two end the game." Haley greeted.

"Hey mom, Nathan just offered two tickets for his next game." Brian announced excitedly.

"I told him to ask you first." Nathan explained.

"Can we go? Please?" Brian asked looking to his mother.

Haley remembered that she had promised Kristen she would go out with her, but Haley a slightly feeling that her friend wouldn't mind the changing of plans.

She realized that both Brian and Nathan were gazing at her waiting for her answer.

"Okay, I guess we can go."

"Thank you mom!"

"I'll see you at the game, Nathan."

"Okay buddy!" They exchanged goodbyes then Brian went to the car.

"Can I have your number?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your number so I can get your address to send the ticked." He explained naturaly.

"Oh, that's why you need my number?"

"Of course, why would I have another reason?" He asked inocently.

"I wonder."

"Besides, you figured out where I work, why don't you figure out my address by yourself. Don't you have your ways?" she challenged playfully.

"Hey, I'm giving you tickets for my game. You should be more nice with me." He told her with a smirk.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you've been so good to me." He noticed her sarcastic tone and he tried not to chuckle.

She had finally gave him her number and told him she needed to go.

"I guess we have a new date."

"See you there."

"See you at the game Hales." He winked at her.

--------------

**Please Review! I'll try to post the next chapter ASAP!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for all the replies. If anyone wants to beta this fic I'll be really grateful. :)**

**Chapter 6**

"Hey Jack. Did you get the tickets I had asked you yesterday?" Nathan asked rushing into Jack's office.

"Hello to you too, Scott." The blonde guy greeted him and Nathan just gave him an annoyed look in response.

Jack ignored Nathan's reaction before answering the question. "It was a little bit hard to get them since you asked me in the last minute, but I got them." Jack said handing the tickets to Nathan.

"Thanks man."

"You own me, Nathan."

"Yeah, whatever."

Before Nathan could grab the tickets, Jack holds them away from him. "You still haven't said why you need two tickets. Did you invite two girls?"

"No! I don't need that, okay?" Jack's face showed that he wasn't still convinced.

"It's just for a friend..." Jack waited for Nathan to continue. "and her son."

"Oh. Wow!" It was all he could say. Nathan was getting more aggravated by the second. His manager could be a really pain in the ass sometimes.

"You've never told me about this friend."

"She's just an old friend that I bumped into the other day."

"What's her name?"

Nathan gave him an annoyed look but answered anyway. "Haley."

"Wait a minute. This name sounds familiar."

"Can you just give me the damn tickets? I really need to go." Nathan said, not liking the way this conversation was going to.

"Oh I remember her."

After many years having Jack as his manager, Nathan considered him as a good friend, but he didn't feel like talking more about his past to Jack any more than he already knew. In fact, the first time they met, Jack had an idea of how was Nathan Scott's life.

_Nathan was early to his meeting with his new manager. The secretary informed him that Mr. Johnson was on his way and asked Nathan to wait in his office. So he was now sitting on the leather chair, tapping his foot on the floor. He wasn't a patient person._

_After a few minutes he heard the door cracking open and turned around expecting to find Mr Johnson, but instead of that, he found his father standing there._

_"Mr. Scott, this gentleman said he's your father." The secretary said directed to Nathan._

_"Yes, it's okay." Nathan spoke. He wasn't happy to see his dad there but he couldn't make a scene with other people around. The secretary nodded and left the two men alone._

_"Dad, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked hotly when he saw the door closed._

_"I'm here to support my son." Dan replied simply._

_"Yeah, right. You here to interfere in my business." Nathan pointed out._

_"Is it wrong for a father to give some advices to his own son? I just want what is best for you."_

_"What's best for me? You don't care what's the best for me, you just want what's convenient for you." Nathan accused._

_"This is not true, son. All this years, you have always been my priority."_

_"Because you drove mom away, so I was the only one left with you. But now I can take care of myself, I don't need your advices nor your support."_

_"Don't be ungrateful, Nathan. You almost ruined your future because of some girl and I was there for you when she left you."_

_"Don't talk about her." Nathan warned his father._

_"Why not? She's not worth it, son."_

_"I'm, serious, dad. Stop it." Nathan warned his dad once more, anger in his eyes._

_"Or what?" Dan challenged his son. "She had you wrapped around her finger. You became a wussy after you met that girl, too weak. Maybe that's why she left you, she wanted a real man."_

_Nathan was about to jump on Dan's throat when Jack rushed into his room. He had closed his cell phone and put it in his pocket . He looked between the two men in front of him, he definitely noticed the tension in the room._

_"Hi. I'm Jack Johnson." He introduced himself to Nathan._

_"Nathan Scott."_

_"And I'm Dan Scott, Nathan's father."_

_"Dad, please."_

_Jack noticed Nathan's discomfort, probably because of his father presence. "Do you wanna have this meeting with your father here?" His question was directed to Nathan, but Dan replied first._

_"Mr. Johnson, I'm sure my son would like me to stay."_

_Now it was Nathan's turn to speak. "No. Actually dad, I prefer you to leave." He said glaring at Dan._

_"Son, I don't think that's the best idea..."_

_"Mr. Scott, I think you're son made it clear that he'd like you to leave. And if you insist, I can call the security." Jack warned._

_Dan stood there in silence. He looked at Nathan but his son was looking at the other side of the room, not even bothering to look at his way, then he just nodded and went to the door._

_Before he could leave the room, he spoke once more. "I better know what you're doing with your life, son."_

_And then Dan left the room._

_Nathan sighed as he rubbed his hand on his forehead. That was definitely a good first impression, he was sure that Jack didn't enjoy what had just happened minutes ago between him and his dad. He had been always used to how dysfunctional his family was, but to him, the worst part was when someone from the outside would presence one of their freak shows. It was one thing to deal with his family inside their house, but outside of it, it was a whole different history._

_"Look, I'm sorry for what happened before..."_

_"Don't." Jack cut him._

_"Look, here's the thing. I've seen many young players career didn't working out because they wanted to live up to their parents expectations. If you won't let your father control your life, I'll help you, otherwise we can't make a deal here."_

_And since that day they had been working together. Nathan had told Jack a little about his life, including Haley James, the girl that Dan had mentioned. Nathan had talked about her in another occasions, not giving many details and Jack hadn't pushed him either. Thought he knew that this girl seemed important to Nathan._

"So, since she had a son, where's the father?" Jack asked curiously.

"I haven't asked that, but he's apparently not in the picture."

"Interesting." Jack said but Nathan just ignored his comments.

"Did you finish the interrogation?" Nathan asked annoyed.

"Yeah, that's all." Jack smiled and handed to Nathan the tickets, who quickly got them this time, before Jack could say anything again.

"See ya at the game."

* * *

Haley had finished putting her clothes on and now was looking for a pair of earrings when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Haley-Bop." A familiar voice said.

"Hey Vivian."

"How have you been lil sis?" Haley rolled her eyes at her question.

"You ask like we haven't talked for weeks. Which it isn't true since we talk like every day." Haley pointed out.

"That's true. But your life has been so full of events lately, I need to keep it up with all the details."

"Oh God. You're worse than Kristen!" Haley groaned to herself. Lately, both Kristen and Vivian had been bombarding her with questions.

"Well, that's because she lives near you and works with you. She had more information."

"It works for you, since she tells you everything."

"Not everything, just the necessary. The rest I can figure it out."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"So how's everything with you and Nathan?"

"There's nothing going on between us, sis."

"But don't you guys have a date tonight?"

"No, he invited us to watch his game. It's not what you're thinking."

"If you say so."

"I'm actually getting ready, Brian is already waiting for me at the living room. He's really excited." Haley commented and she couldn't help but smile. Brian had been talking about this game the whole time, always really hype about it.

"Awe, I miss my nephew. Give him a kiss for me."

"Will do."

Haley missed her sister. The last time she saw her had been 3 months ago, which it was a lot for them. They'd always been glued to each other, even thought they had a little difference of age. Vivian hadn't been there helping Haley when she had Brian because she had just gotten married and went to live with her husband in another city. But she would always make sure to visit her little sister and her nephew every time she could.

She knew how hard Haley's life had been all those years and she was really proud of her.

"Have you talked to the bastard?" Vivian asked and Haley tensed at the change of subject.

"No. Thankfully I hadn't seen him for a while." Haley answered.

"Do you think he'll come back now?"

"Hum, Viv, I really don't wanna talk about that now. I don't even wanna think about the possibility of... Just no." She said shaking her head. She couldn't deal with that right now.

"But it can happen Haley..."

"I know!" Haley sighed before continued more calmly. "I know that, Vivian. But I won't let this ruin the way I live my life. Yes, I'm afraid that someday he'll come back, but I can't be always worried about it. It's not right."

"Yeah, I understand. And I'm sorry for bring this up. You're really brave, Haley-bop. I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks Viv."

"Mom, are you ready?" Brian asked popping his head on the door.

"Yes!" Haley answered to her son. "Did you hear that, Viv? I gotta go now sis. Love ya." Before her sister could reply she handed the phone to Brian. "Here, talk to your aunt while a finish getting ready." Haley said and gave the phone to Brian.

"Auntie Vivian? Hey! I missed you too." Brian sat on Haley's bed and started talking to Vivian.

Good, that'll keep him busy while I put some make up. Not too much, this is just a game. Haley thought.

Haley didn't want to admit to herself, but she could already feel butterflies in her stomach. This was going to be the first time she was going to one of Nathan's games ever since high school. She felt like she was sixteen again.

Ugh, calm down Haley. She said to herself giving one last look at her in the mirror.

"I'm ready." Haley announced as she arrived the living room.

"Finally. What took you so long?" Brian asked getting up from the couch. He was back there after he ended his quick phone call with his aunt.

"I wasn't finding my watch." Haley gave a lame excuse and she knew her son didn't buy it, so she looked at her watch. "And we are right on time. Let's go."

Haley locked the door, trying to ignore the suspicious look that Brian had on his face.

Tonight was going to be interesting.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

This wasn't new to Nathan Scott, he'd been playing for his whole life and by now he was pretty used to the pressure, he even liked the adrenaline. But at this moment he felt like it was his first time. And somehow, it was. That'd be the first time that Haley was going to see him play basketball since high school.

He remembered the first time she went to watch him play...

_Flashback_

_"You're coming to the game, right?" Nathan asked her as he closed his English book._

_Haley kept her eyes down on her notebook, making sure she had everything noted. "I don't know, Nathan. You know that's not my thing." And that was true. Haley was never into sports._

_"But I'm asking you. I'm still on the team because I got a good great on my last English test, thanks to you." He told her._

_"And I'm happy for you, Nathan. I really am." She assured him._

_"Then let me show you how grateful I am. Basketball is really important to me and thanks to your help I'm still on the team."_

_"You don't own me anything."_

_"Maybe I don't, but it'd mean a lot if you could come." He told her truthfully._

_"Okay, I'll try." She said._

_Before the game started, Nathan found Haley sitting in the middle of the crowd, she looked a little out of the place. Nathan nodded at her and she gave him a small smile._

_The game went really well and The Ravens won easily. Nathan was alone in the locker room when his dad appeared._

_"You seem content with these mediocre numbers." Dan commented._

_"What now, dad?" Nathan said annoyed by his father presence._

_"If you think performances like these will make you go to the NBA, you're completely wrong, Nathan."_

_"Dad, we won. That was an easy game."_

_"That's true, but not every game is gonna be easy like that and you have to be prepared and ready to give your A game but playing like that soon your A game will be very poor."_

_"And maybe you'd like that, huh?"_

_"Of course not, son. I want the best for you, and I want you to give the best. But you have to focus on the game."_

_"Whatever, dad."_

_"Quit with the attitude, Nathan. I want you to have a good future. If you want to be a nobody, let me know then because I won't even bother." Dan said. When Nathan didn't say anything back he spoke again. "I thought so." Then he left the locker room._

_Nathan felt like that was one of the worst days ever. The Ravens won the game but that wasn't enough for Dan Scott, no, to him Nathan had a weak performance. Frustration and annoyance was what Nathan felt at that moment but he was too tired to argue with his father._

_Nathan kicked the locker room and took a deep breath. He needed to get drunk to forget everything._

_He grabbed his backpack and went to the hallway, he walked fast and bumped into someone._

_"Sorry." He heard a familiar voice and looked down._

_"Haley?"_

_"Oh hey, Nathan."_

_"What are you still doing in here?" He asked confused._

_"I was waiting to talk to you."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah, I almost didn't come to the game." She confessed._

_"Well, I'm sorry if I wasted your time." Nathan said bitterly, still frustrated because of his previous talk with his dad._

_"No, no. Actually, I'm glad I came." She told him._

_"Really?" He asked surprised._

_"Yes. What you said to me this afternoon made me think about it. When I started tutoring, I was really happy to help other people and tonight when I saw you playing, I saw how you love it and while I confess I don't know anything about basketball, I think it's pretty obvious how talented you are and I felt so proud of you."_

_Nathan thought he had stopped breathing. Maybe it sounded stupid for a guy like him act like that but he felt so good hearing those words coming from Haley's mouth. He hadn't realized before how much her opinion mattered to him._

_"You have no idea how much this means to me."_

_"It's the truth."_

_"Thank you." He hugged her. Not just a quick hug, he gave a a bear hug, lifting her off the floor which made her squeal in surprise and then giggled a little. That sweet sound was much to his ears._

_"Alright, I gotta go now. I'm sure you wanna go celebrate with your friends." Haley said._

_"Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to celebrate with you."_

_"Hmm, let me think about it?" She said as she playfully tapped her chin with her index finger. "I guess I don't mind."_

_"Come on." He said putting his arm around her shoulder and them out of school._

* * *

"Where are you Haley?" Nathan whispered to himself as he looked around the gym.

The game started and he still hadn't found her in the crowd. Nathan felt nervous and empty inside. There were hundred of people cheering for him at that place but he didn't see the only person who mattered to him.

He lost completely the focus on the game and his team mates tried to bring him back to it, but they weren't having any success.

The first half of the game ended and Nathan looked to the scoreboard for the first time that night. The other team was winning by ten. He felt guilty because he knew it was mostly his fault, he wanted to get back and help his team but his mind was out there thinking about her.

"Nathan, what the hell are you doing? Or should I ask why the hell aren't you playing?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, man. I'm not feeling well." Nathan tried to give an excuse.

"That's bullshit! Weren't you excited for this game?"

"Yes, I was. But the reason for my excitement is not here."

"What are you talking about?"

"Haley." Nathan simply said with a sad face. "She didn't come to see me."

"You're wrong, Nathan. She did come and she's here with her son."

"Wha.." Nathan didn't know what to say.

"I think she arrived a little later, after the game had already started, you probably haven't seen her because you were too busy brooding."

"Where is she?" Nathan asked.

"She's behind of the team's seats. I'm surprised you didn't hear them. They both have been screaming the whole time, cheering for you."

"Really?"

"Yep. Now go back there. Your coach probably want to talk to you and your other team mates."

"Alright. Thanks man." Nathan said patting Jack's shoulder.

"Go there and kick some ass."

"I will."

Nathan quickly spotted them and nodded at their direction.

The second half of the game Nathan was on fire. He was everywhere on the court and that also moved the rest of the team. The game ended and his team won.

After the game, Nathan and the other players were at the press room. He had tried to find Haley and talk to her but everyone went to him so he lost her sight.

* * *

Some time later Haley and Brian were on their way back home when the boy saw a familiar face.

"Hey!" He said and waved to the person.

"Hey, Brian." Nathan said, happy to see that he had found him.

"Hey, Nathan." Haley greeted him. "Weren't you suppose to be celebrating with your team mates?" She asked him. She hadn't expected to find him walking on the streets right now, specially after a game.

"I stayed for a little bit and then I left. I guess I'm too old for partying. I wanted some peace now." Nathan explained.

"You were amazing tonight, Nathan. Great game." Brian told him with a big grin in his face, still hyper from the game.

"Thanks, Brian. And I'm glad you came, both of you." He looked at them and Haley saw that he really meant it.

"Thank you for the tickets Nathan."

"You're welcome, buddy."

"Do you wanna come to my house and play NBA live?" Brian asked.

"Brian!" Haley exclaimed surprised. "Nathan had just played a game, he probably must be tired and would like to go home and relax." She said.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind." Nathan said and she looked even more surprised with his answer. "If you don't mind." He added looking at her.

"Well, I..I guess I don't mind." She shrugged her shoulders. "But it can't take too long because it's already late and we're going to visit your aunt tomorrow." Haley reminded her son.

"It's fine. Thank you, mom." He was very excited.

"We're not too far from the building where we live, Nathan. It's just a couple of blocks away."

They kept walking through the streets, Brian was in the middle talking about the game while Nathan spoke sometimes as he glanced to Haley, who kept looking straight ahead.

She felt a little nervous. Nathan was going to see where she lived. She had never thought that that would happen when she agreed in going to his game. Haley thought that he probably wouldn't even notice them there. And now he was going to play video game with her son at their apartment. Great!

When he left the party and went out to take a breath of fresh air, he had no idea that he would bump into Haley and Brian, well, the boy saw him first. And Nathan was happy that he did. Brian was a great kid and it was good to talk to him and it didn't hurt that he would spend more time with Haley eventually. That was a bonus.

Brian was ecstatic. He couldn't be more happy than he was at that moment. What kid wouldn't want to watch a basketball game live and spend some time with his favourite player after it? He felt very lucky for that.

* * *

"Are you telling that Nathan Scott is there at your apartment playing video game with your son?"

"You heard me, Kristen." Haley talked to her friend on the phone.

"Wow."

"I know." She agreed.

"And where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen. They went to Brian's room while I stayed in here."

"And how did that happen?"

"Brian and I went to eat something and then we were going back home. Next thing I know Brian saw Nathan and went to say 'hi' to him."

"And what was he doing out at this time?"

"I don't know. He said he left the celebration party."

"Wow, that must be fate."

"Kristen, please..." Haley sighed.

"It must be, Haley. First, Brian and Nathan met at the park, then he sees Nathan after the game and now he's there playing with him."

"Brian adores him. He's Nathan's biggest fan. As much as this situation makes me uncomfortable, I can't take it away from Brian."

"I know, Haley. And you're doing the right thing."

"Thanks, Kristen."

"Did you and Nathan have a chance to talk to each other?"

"No. He kept looking at me while we were coming home but I pretended I didn't see it."

"He seems like he is still into you, Hales." Kristen concluded.

"Don't say that. It'd be too complicated."

Haley looked at the watch and saw it was getting late.

"Look, I gotta hang up now. It's getting late and I need to go talk to them. Wish me lucky."

"Good tuck. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye, Kristen."

"Bye."

Haley hang up the phone and went to Brian's room. She opened the door and actually saw two little boys playing and having fun, she couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her.

Nathan felt her presence and turned his head to her. "Hey." He gave her a lopsided smile.

Brian also turned around to his mom. "Oh hey, mom. We're finishing this game, it won't take too long, I promise." He told her.

"Okay, fine." She conceded. Haley stayed there near the door and watched the boys get back to the game.

Five minutes had passed and the game ended.

"Come on, Brian. Say goodbye to Nathan."

"Goodbye Nathan. Thanks for coming and playing with me. I'm never gonna forget this day." The boy told him honestly.

"Neither will I. Thanks for inviting me. I actually hadn't played NBA live for a while." Nathan patted Brian's back.

"Goodbye, Brian."

"Brian, don't forget to put everything in place and and go brush your teeth and change yourself."

"Okay, mom."

"Come on, Nathan. I'll take you to the door." Haley said.

"Sure." He followed her.

They were standing in the hallway, Nathan with his hands in his pockets and Haley was leaned on the door frame with her arms crossed. She decided to break the silence.

"It was really nice of you to come and play with Brian."

"It was no problem. I really enjoyed it. And thank you for coming to the game."

"Brian really wanted to go. He wouldn't miss it for anything." She said with a smile.

"I'm glad you went, Haley. You have no idea how much it meant to me seeing you there supporting me."

"I'm glad I did go."

"I miss you, Hales."

"Nathan, please..."

"I'm serious. Since I've seen you at the park, I can't stop thinking about you. How much I miss you and how much I want you back in my life."

"Please, stop it. I don't wanna hear it" She pleaded shaking her head.

"It's the truth."

"I..." Before she could say anything else, Nathan leaned down and kissed her on the lips. It was a slow tender kiss that Haley timidly responded to it.

"No, no, this is not good."

"I beg to differ. This was pretty damn good actually." He looked down at her, with their foreheads still touching, he had a big smirk on his face.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Haley said closing her eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I think you should go. Brian could come here wondering why I am taking so long."

"Okay, I'm going now. But I'll come back. I'm not going to let you go out of my life again." He told her and kissed her lips once more before leaving.

Haley watched him go as she stayed still for a a couple of minutes till she took a deep breath and went back into her apartment.

She opened the door of Brian's bedroom and saw he was already laid down with his pajamas on.

"Do you think you'll be able to get some sleep tonight?" She joked.

"Yeah, I think I can... just a little." He joked back.

"Come on, boy. It's time to sleep." She said as she covered him with a blanket. "Goodnight, honey. I love you." She told him kissing his forehead.

"I love you too, mom."

**Please leave a review. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Sorry everyone! It's been so long, I hope you guys like the new chapter, it's shortbut please let me know what you guys think. :)**

**Chapter 8**

Haley didn't sleep much that night. She had been thinking about what Nathan had said to her and also the kiss. It was all too much for her. First, Nathan appeared in her life again after so many years and then he wanted to be with her again. She didn't think she was ready for that. It had been years. She had never really dated after she had Brian. She never really wanted to.

All her focus was on her son and her work. She was okay with that. She didn't want anything else. But now Nathan Scott was back in the picture.

That would change everything.

* * *

_They were in the tutoring center finishing their homework, well surprisingly , Nathan was the one doing his homework. He said he prefered doing his homework with her, he even enjoyed it. Haley noticed that he had been staring at her for a while._

_"What?" She asked, not taking her eyes away from the notabook._

_"Haley, do you wanna go out with me on a date?" Nathan asked. It was now or never, he thought. He had to try._

_"Hmm, no." Haley replied as she kept writing on her notebook._

_"What? Why not?" Nathan asked confused._

_"I have to study." Haley told him._

_"So? You have plenty of time to study. Besides, we always hanging out." He pointed out as he took her pencil out of her hand so she would stop writing. That made Haley roll her eyes._

_"Yes but why do you wanna go on a date with me?" Haley asked, not understanding what Nathan wanted._

_"Because I like you." Nathan blurted._

_"I like you too, Nathan." She replied._

_"No. I mean more than that." Nathan said, trying to make himself more clear._

_"Since when?" She questioned._

_"I dunno." Nathan shugred._

_"And how do you know you like me more than as a friend?" She asked crossing her arms. She was feisty, it was one of the things Nathan liked about her._

_He wasn't good at expressing himself but he knew he could be honest with her. He didn't feel the need to pretend to be somebody else._

_"It's different. You're this beautiful girl with a great sense of humor, inteligent, with a big heart and strong personality. Any guy would want to be with you. In fact, I don't know why I'm even asking you out. You deserve so much better..."_

_"Wait, wait Nathan." Haley tried to stop him._

_"Forget it." Nathan said trying to get up._

_"No!" Haley insisted. "You're a great guy too Nathan. I think you're brave and hard working." Haley said and Nathan smiled a little._

_"It just seems weird. We always hang out. Why do we have to go out on a date?"_

_"Then we go out like we always do and we'll see what happens. Deal?" Nathan suggested._

_"Deal." She agreed._

_Haley had never been on a date before, she didn't know how to act, especially since her date was her friend Nathan._

* * *

Haley was at her work when she received flowers with a little card.

"I guess last night was really good." Kristen commented.

"It's not what you are thinking."

"And what do you think that I'm thinking?" Kristen asked amused.

"Stop it, Kristen."

"Then you better start telling me everything that happened last night."

"Nothing happened. He just played video game with Brian and then he kissed me before leaving." She told her friend.

"What?"

"Shhh..."

"How that happened? Haley, I need details!"

Gee, since when her life became so interesting? Haley wondered.

"Nathan and Brian were playing video game when I was on the phone talking to you. Then when Nathan was leaving, he kissed me in the hallway."

"Did Brian see you guys kissing?" Kristen asked.

"No, of course not! He was in his room when we were outside. Nathan said he missed me and that he wanted me back in his life."

"Oh my God!" Kristen exclaimed shocked.

"I know. I didn't know what to say." Haley confessed.

"I guess he still loves you."

"How could he? It's been so long, we've both changed."

"Yes, but when it's really true love, that feeling will never go away." Kristen looked at Haley. "I know you don't like to talk about your past, but I can see that you still have feelings for him."

"What should I do?"

"Go out with him."

"You say like it's something easy."

"You're the one complicating things." Kristen said laughing. "You have a new chance to make things right this time. Think about it."

* * *

"Hello?" Haley asnwered the phone.

"Hey you." A deep voice said. She knew that sexy voice.

"Oh hey Nathan." Haley said, trying to sound calm.

"Did you receive the flowers?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you. They're beautiful."

"Did you read the card?"

"Yes, I did."

"What do you say?"

"I... Yes." She told him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive." She reassured him.

"What time can I pick you up?"

"Around 1pm, is it good?"

"Sure!"

"Do you want the address?" Haley asked.

"Haley, how do you think I sent you the flowers?"

"Right!" She gave a nervous laugh, feeling silly. "I'll see you soon then."

"See ya."

Nathan hung up the phone, he had a huge grin on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Sorry again for taking so long to update. **

**Chapter 9**

Haley looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was almost time to meet with Nathan. She put the papers on the desk and grabbed her purse before she left to go lunch.

She opened the door of the building and and spotted Nathan standing there on the street waiting for her. He didn't see her coming closer.

"How long have you been waiting?" She asked from behind which made him turn around, surprised she was already there.

"Not long. I just arrived here a couple of minutes ago actually." Nathan told her. He looked at her and couldn't help but notice how different she looked from high school. He remembered Haley used to wear jeans and t-shirts and a poncho that her mother made for her. He thought it was cute. But now she turned into a beautiful woman, a working woman with a son. It amazed him how much she had changed.

Haley noticed how he kept staring at her. She didn't feel uncomfortable by that, she felt butterflies on her stomach. She decided to speak then. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"I'm not sure." He confessed. "Do you know any good restaurant around here?"

"Yes, there's one a few blocks away that the food is really good. I've only been there a couple of times. I usually don't have much time to leave work to lunch. We usually ask someone to bring us food." She told him.

"I hope I'm not bothering you. I don't wanna get you in trouble." Nathan said concerned.

"Oh no, I have finished what I had to do. I have time now to go lunch. There's no problem." Haley assured him. The truth was she usually didn't get out of the office. Her co-workers would invite her but she would prefer staying. Only Kristen conviced her of getting out a few times.

They ordered their foods and started talking about their lives. Nathan told her which college he attended and how he got to the NBA and Haley told him how she got her current job. They both opted to discuss safe topics. They wanted to know more about each other's life without getting too serious. It was only the first date, and at that moment enjoy each others company was what it mattered to them.

"I have been living here for about five years." Haley said.

"New York is a big city. I'm surprised we bumped into each other." Nathan commented. And he was happy he found her again.

"I guess it's a small world after all." Haley joked.

"I'm glad it is then." He smirked at her. Haley was trying really hard to stay calm.

"Brian is pretty good at basketball." Nathan said.

"He's a big fan."

"You can tell him that he can go to any of my games, I can get tickets for him." He said. "If it's okay to you." He added.

"I'll tell you. But only if he gets good grades."

"Come on, I can tell the kid is pretty smart, like his mother." That was true. And Brian was very responsable too.

"Yeah, he is very intelligent. But I can't go easy on him." Whish Haley was busy with work, she would always find time to be with her son.

Nathan looked at her. He could bet she would always help Brian with his homework and study with him. He remembered when she used to tutor him. She made everything look simple and easy to understand. She was always patient with him.

After they were done, Nathan walked her to her work.

"Thanks for the lunch Nathan. I had a good time."

"So did I." He said. "WOuld you like to repeat it tomorrow?" He offered.

Haley stopped to think about it. _Don't think too much Haley!_ she thought.

"I'd love to." She asnwered.

"Good. Can I pick you up at the same time?"

"Sure."

"Okay then. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Nathan."

* * *

The next couple of days Nathan and Haley had lunch together. Nathan thought things were going well, he didn't want to rush anything.

It was the third date and while Nathan liked how things were going, he didn't want them to stay just friends. He wanted more. And he'd make sure she knew that.

"I know you didn't like when I kissed you at your apartment the other day..." Nathan stated with a little disappointment in his voice.

"I didn't say I didn't like it." Haley pointed out. She didn't know why she said that, but she knew she had to be honest with him. Nathan looked up at her and realized what she meant. That's all he needed to know.

He lowered his head and captured her lips with his and she responded to the kiss right away. The kiss was full of passion.

"This is better than I expected." Nathan said, still breathless.

"The kiss?"

"No, the kiss was amazing. I mean, I thought you would say no." He confessed.

"I thought so too." She admitted. "But I coulnd't." She added. He smiled and caressed her face.

"So is this official? Are we together now?" He asked.

"We're almost there." He looked a little confused.

"I need to talk to Brian about us."

"I can talk to him if you want to." He offered, after all he knew Brian and cared about him.

"No, I need to tell him first."

"But can I be there when you tell him?"

"Yes." Haley nodded her head.

"Good. Now give me another kiss."

"So bossy." Haley wrapped her arms around his neck and he rested his hands on her wait.

"I just can't get enough of you."

"Now that's cheese." She teased him again.

"I don't care. Come here." He said holding her closer to him.

* * *

"Somebody looks really happy." Jack commented.

"And somebody looks really curious." Nathan retorted.

"Sort of. I can tell by your happy face that woman has something to do with that."

"It's Haley."

"I know that. So what really happened between you too?"

"We are together now." Nathan stated, not hiding the grin on his face.

"That's great. Nathan Scott does always gets what he wants." Jack affirmed.

"Haley is the only one I want."

"Very well. What about her son? Is he happy with the news?" Jack questioned.

"He doesn't know yet. Haley wanna wait for the right time to tell him."

"Do you think he's gonna take it well?"

"I think so. We know each other already and he likes me." Nathan shrugged. He didn't see any problem.

"He likes you as an idol and maybe even as a friend, but not as his mother's boyfriend." Jack pointed out.

"What are you talking about? Why are you saying that?" Nathan asked confused by Jack's negativity.

"I'm just saying that sometimes kids don't like their parents dating other people. Believe me, I had dated a divorced woman and her kids were a nightmare."

"But Brian is not like that. Besides, I don't think he knows his father."

"He have never met his father?" Jack asked curious.

"I don't think so." Nathan responded.

"And Haley never told you anything about this story?"

"No. I never really asked her about his father." Nathan had only focus on getting back with Haley. He didn't want to think about another guy. He was enjoying the moment and didn't want to bring anything about the past.

"You may want to ask her about it. What if the guy comes back?"

"Why do you think that?" Nathan questioned.

"You never know." Jack shrugged.

Nathan never thought about that, but what Jack said made him wonder.

**Please read and review! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

They hadn't told Brian the truth yet. Haley said that she was waiting for the right time to tell her son but she had promised Nathan that it was going to be soon. Nathan liked Brian. They played playstation and basktball sometimes, but Nathan wanted to go to Haley's apartment as her boyfriend. It was hard for him to go there and not being able kiss her.

He wondered if Jack was right, if Brian wouldn't take the news very well, but for now he wouldn't like to worry about that. He just wanted to enjoy being with Haley again. He missed her so much.

He knew they had changed since high school. They grew up. But somehow, it felt the same, it felt familiar. They had been apart for so many years that he was a little scared that things would be different, and not in a good way.

"Hey Nathan." She greeted him with a bright smile.

"Hey Hales." Nathan leaned down to kiss her. He just couldn't help it.

"How long have you been waiting for me?" She asked sitting on the chair opposite to him.

"Not much." The truth was that he wasn't sure. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't know how long he had been there waiting for her.

"I'm sorry. My boss was being such a pain, well, that's because Rachel was telling things to him and he is really a fool to believe in her but thankfully Kristen helped me with the papers and I was able to come here right in time." Haley said and Nathan just looked at her amused. He missed her babbling, sometimes he would tease her about it and sometimes he would stop her with a kiss.

"And how'd been your day so far?" She asked.

"It's been okay." He shrugged, he had something else in his mind.

"Haley, and when are we gonna tell Brian that we're together? It's been almost two weeks. I know it doesn't seem too long but I just want him to know the truth."

"I know." Haley sighed. "I was thinking about telling him this weekend."

"I wanna be there." Nathan told her.

"Of course. I'll call you." She nodded in agreement.

"Great."

"Can we order now? I'm so hungry." Haley stated as she grabbed the menu.

"Sure." Nathan chuckled.

* * *

Nathan went to Haley's apartment as soon as possible. He was happy that Haley had decided to talk to Brian sooner than later, he really didn't wanna to keep their relationship as a secret any longer.

He arrived on her floor and gave a light knock on the door, he knew Haley would be in the living room waiting for him. Haley opened the door and found Nathan standing outside.

"Hey."

"Hey you."

"Where's Brian?" Nathan asked her.

"He's at his room. I'm gonna talk to him first, okay? And then I'll call you."

"Okay." He agreed. Nathan didn't like to wait but he knew that was the best way. Haley was good with words.

Haley entered Brian's room and found her son sitting on his bed reading a book. She coudln't deny she was a little nervous.

"Hey there Brian." She wanted to roll her eyes at the sound of her voice. She didn't feel nervous even when she told her parents she started dating Nathan in high school.

"Hi mom. What's up?" He replied, still looking down.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." He said as he closed the book and put on his nightstand.

Haley walked closer to Brian and sat on the bed next to him.

"Honey, you know how you always said that I should go out more and date someone?"

"Yes, I know." Brian confirmed.

"I'm seeing someone." Haley blurted out before she continued. "It's Nathan."

"I know that." Her son stated calmly.

"You know what?" She asked confused.

"That there was something going on between you two."

"How?" Haley asked again, still confused. They had been so careful with they relatioship. How could Brian know? Haley thought.

"The way you two looked at each other." Brian answered. Haley was taken aback for a moment. She didn't think they were so obvious.

"Look honey, this is quite recent and I just didn't say anything to you right from the beginning because I didn't really know how to tell you since I never really date." She told him honestly.

"I know mom. And I prefered to wait for you to talk to me. I didn't want to make you feel like I was pressuring you." He confessed. He knew something was going on between her mom and Nathan but Brian didn't want to interfere or play the match maker.

"So are you okay with me dating Nathan?"

"Of course. I just want you to be happy."

"Oh sweetie, you're the best son in the world." She said as she hugged him tightly and started kissing all over his face like he was a little baby. She felt relieved. Brian was the most important person in the world for her, his opinion mattered to her. Haley felt lucky yo have a son so understanding.

Haley stopped kissing him when she remembered that Nathan was in the room waiting to talk to Brian.

"Can I tell Nathan that he can come in here? He's waiting in the living room. He wants to talk to you too."

"Okay." He nodded.

"Okay then. Love ya." She kissed his cheeck.

"Love you too, mom."

Haley went to the living room and found Nathan sitting on the couch shaking his legs. He looked a little bit aggited.

"Nathan." She called his name which startled him.

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yes, I told him."

"And how did he take?"

"Just fine."

"Can I talk to him now?"

"Yeah, you can go."

"Okay." He got up and went to her direction, he gave her a quick kiss before going to Brian's room.

"Hey Brian. Can I come in?" He asked.

"Hey Nathan. Yeah, come in."

"Haley told me that she talked to you." Nathan trailed off.

"Yep." Brian confirmed shortly.

"Look Brian, I just wanna tell you that I was not using you. I hope we can still be friends." While Nathan wanted to be with Haley, he also enjoyed Brian's company and liked him. He didn't know the boy was Haley's son when he first met Brian.

"I know that Nathan. All I want is my mom to be happy." Brian reapeted what he had said to her mom before, which it was true. Brian thought it'd be selfish of him to complicate things. Haley had always been supportive and he should do the same for her.

"And all I want is to make her happy." Nathan assured the boy.

"Good to know." Brian smiled.

"Can we all go out and eat some pizza?" Nathan suggested.

"That sounds great. I'm really hungry." Nathan chuckled at the boy's response, just like his mother Nathan thought.

"Come on then, let's go talk to your mom."

The three of them went out to eat pizza. Nathan was relieved that everything went well, better than he expected. A few months ago Nathan felt lonely, but things had changed since Haley got back into his life with the addition of Brian. They showed him how the simpliest things in life that trully mattered.

The only thing that he hoped was that things would stay like that.

**Please read and review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for all the reviews!**

**Chapter 11**

Things couldn't have been better. Now that Brian knew that Nathan and Haley were dating, Nathan could go to her apartment to see her at any time he wanted. That was a good thing since he couldn't go through a day without seeing or kissing her. He still talked to Brian too, played video game and basketball in the park with the boy. Nathan honestly cared about Brian. The fact that he was dating Brian's mother surprisingly brought them closer.

In the morning, Nathan decided to go to Jack's office. There were some stuff about his carreer that Nathan walted to discuss with his manager.

"Nathan Scott, what brings you here?" Jack asked, surprised to see his client and friend in his office. Nathan usually called first.

"Well, I came to check on how you doing your job. After all I'm paying you." Nathan joked as he sat on the chair.

"Oh you cocky bastard." Jack said and Nathan chuckled.

After they talked about work, Nathan decided to tell Jack how it went thw whole Brian situation. After all, it went better than they thought.

"Haley told Brian that we are dating," Nathan stated.

"Really? And how did he react?" Jack asked, surprised to hear that.

"He took the news very well, better than I expected and much better than what you said." Nathan told him.

"That's a surprise. Teenagers usually don't take this kind of news reallt well." Jack shrugged.

"Yeah, but Brian is very mature for his age. Hell I think he is more mature than I am."

"Well, that's not that hard." Jack joked.

"Very funny." Nathan glared at his friend.

"Anyway... Now there's nothing else to worry about." Nathan stated.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"Why?" Nathan asked.

"Nathan, what about his father?" Jack questioned.

"What about him?" He asked again, not understanding what Jack was trying to say.

"Is there anything you know about him? Is he dead or what?"

"I don't know, I've never asked Haley and she has never mentioned anything." Nathan anwered. And truth to be told, Nathan didn't wanna know Brian's dad.

"You should find out." Jack warned him.

"Why are you telling me this? You're always coming up with some problem." Nathan sighed in frustration.

"I'm just trying to warn you. You're my client and also my friend, I've seen many cases where the parents show up in the most convinient time for them." He explained.

Jack had a point Nathan thought, but he didn't know how he would bring this subject to Haley. It was obviously a sore one since Haley had never talked about it.

* * *

Kristen watched as Haley brushed her hair in front of the mirror in the women's bathroom. "Somebody is ready to go home." She teased her friend and Haley just rolled her eyes playfully as she grabbed her lip gloss in her purse.

"What are you talking about, Kristen?" Haley asked still looking at her image in the mirror.

"Do you have plans for tonight?" Kristen asked.

"Kind of." Haley responded. She hadn't planned anything with Nathan, they just talked about watching some dvds at home since Brian was going to sleep at his friend's home.

"Are you going out with your hot boyfriend?" Kristen smirked at her friend.

"No, we're just going to stay at home." Haley said nonchalant.

"Oh, I see." She nodded.

"What?" Haley knew her friend wanted to ask more.

"Are you planning on taking your relationship with Nathan to the next level?" Kristen asked raising her eyebrow.

"What level?" Haley questioned with a confused look on her face, still not getting what her friend was implying. Haley was not much of an expert when it came to relationships.

"Get lady? Have sex? You name it," Kristen blurted out.

"Oh no! I don't think so. It's too early for that, right?" Haley wondered.

"I don't know. It's your relationship, you should know it." Kristen pointed out. "Have you two talked about it?"

Haley shook her head. "No."

"Did he mention anything or gave any hints?" Kristen continued.

"Not that I'm aware," Haley said, trying to remember if Nathan had commented anything about it.

"Well, what do you think, Haley?"

"Hm, I don't think we're there yet. I mean, we've been getting to know each other again. We just told Brian about our relatioship. I don't wanna rush things."

"That's a good point." Kristen nodded.

"What if he wants to take the relationship to the next level?" Haley wondered.

"You know Nathan better than I do. I believe he wouldn't try anything agaisnt your will." Kristen reasoned.

"That's true." Haley agreed with her friend. All those years, her main concern was her son, she never had much time for herself, she never really dated, she tried a couple of times but it didn't work out, but this was Nathan and she trusted him.

"Come on, let's go! You don't want to make lover boy wait for you." Kristen said and they laughed.

The two friends left the bathroom, ready to leave work.

* * *

Nathan and Brian spent some time playing video game while Nathan waited for Haley to come home from work. Brian was going to sleep at his friend's apartment that was on the same building and Nathan was hoping to spend some time alone with Haley.

The boys have been talking about different stuff like basketball, how's Brian doing at school and Nathan also told him how he was in high school. It was clear they had a special bond.

It was funny how they both grew up so differently but to Nathan, Brian sort of reminded him of himself when he was younger. Perhaps not how he was but how he wanted to be and when he started being himself after he met Haley. She definitely had brought the best in himself.

"Hm Brian," Nathan trailed off, trying to find the best way to sound casual. "Have you met your father?" Not fiding a better way to come out with the question, he just blurted it out. Nathan couldn't deny that he got curious after his conversation in the morning with Jack.

"No, I never had the chance to meet him." The boy responded with his eyes focused on the game.

"Haley never told you anything about him?"

"My mom has always been honest with me, but I know how it hurts her to talk about the past. She told me that I could ask her anything I wanted, but the thing is that I'm not sure if I wanna know the truth." Brian confessed.

"I understand." Nathan nodded, not wanting to push the subject any futher. While he was curious, it wasn't any of his bussiness.

"But my mom once told me that he's a great guy and that he gave her a silver bracelet," Nathan's head snapped when he heard what the boy said.

"Do you have it around here?" Nathan asked curiously.

"Yeah, I asked my mom if I could keep it." Brian said to Nathan as he went to his desk to grab the silver material that was hanging there.

"Here." Brian handed it to Nathan who took it in his hand with a shocking expression on his face.

Before Nathan could say anything the door bell rang. "It must be Mike." Brian announced as he left his bedroom, unware of Nathan's expression.

Brian came back shortly to say goodbye to Nathan and then he left the apartment.

Nathan stood there on the same place still holding the bracelet, a lot of emotions running throught his body, his heart was beating really fast.

It was only when he heard Haley's voice coming from the living room that he moved from where he was standing and went there.

Haley dropped her stuff on the couch and smiled when she heard Nathan's foot steps, the silence in her apartment made her sure that her son had left and it was just the two of them there.

"Hey Nathan, I'm sorry I'm a little late, I was..." Haley stopped talking when she saw Nathan's face. He was stading there in front of her holding the silver bracelet is his hand.

The look on his face made her heart clutch inside her chest. She had never seen Nathan like that, she was scared but at the same time she knew it couldn't wait any longer.

It was time for the truth to come out.

**Finally! What do you guys think? Please leave a review! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you for all the reviews. This chapter was hard for me to write because I had this idea since the beginning I knew it'd be hard to write it down. I hope you like it. And I want to dedicate this chapter to naley12.**

**Chapter 12**

Many times Haley thought how could she tell Nathan the truth. It brought back many bad memories and thinhs she wanted to forget, things she had tried to erase from her mind but she couldn't. As much as it pained her to bring back all those memories, she couldn't delay it anymore. When she looked at Nathan and saw how broken he was she came to the conclusion that there wasn't a good way to tell the story so she decided that telling everything was the right way.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice when Nathan started to speak.

"Brian just told me that this bracelet was given to you by his father. Is it true?" He asked, his voice low but clear. He wanted to make sure that he got it right. It was hard to believe it and he wanted to understand what was going on.

Haley took a deep breath before answering his question. "Yes." She whispered and nodded her head at the same time but not looking at him.

"How?" He asked again. She hoped she had the strength to tell the whole thing, she couldn't back down now. Her parents always told her that no matter how hard it was, the truth was always the best thing. Haley looked into his eyes and saw a lot of emotions: confusion, betrayal, hurt... She felt really bad, she never had the intention to hurt him.

Not knowing what he meant by his question, she decided to tell him the story from the beginning. She took a deep breath before she started.

"When we were in high school, on our last day there, after it was over we want to a party at Vegas' beach house. We didn't stay long and 30 minutes later we left and went to your parent's beach house so we could spend the night together, just the two of us. We spent the whole night together and we promised each other that no matter what happened between us, we would always love each other." Her eyes started to tear up but she tried to keep it together.

"Then you went to High Flyers. We had decided that we wouldn't stay in touch because you needed to focus on the game there." Haley watched him nod his head showing that he remembered it.

"Almost three weeks after you left, I started to get sick, but I didn't really pay much attention to it, I thought it was because I was working too much at the cafe so I brushed it off. When my mom noticed that I was always feeling sick in the morning, she took me to the doctor. I thought it wasn't a big deal but she insisted and I obeyed her."

"The doctor asked me some questions and told me to do some exams. I started to get worried because I thought it was something more serious. When the doctor came with the results of the exams I could not believe when he told me I was pregnant. I did not expect that." She spoke, flashbacks of the past running through her mind.

"I was shocked and nervous. The first thing that I wanted to do was to go and tell you the news. My mom took me home and told my dad that I was pregnant. I wanted to tell you about the baby in person, I didn't want to tell you over the phone or through email. So till we could find a way to go see you at High Flyers, my parents and I decided not tell anyone that I was having a baby."

Now it was the hardest part, Haley thought. "But somehow your dad found out I was pregnant." When Haley said that, Nathan expression changed drastically. He started to get agitated and shook his head back and forth, not wanting to believe what he'd just hard but already knowing what was to come.

"I guess since he was the mayor of the town he found out that I had an appoitment and wondered why I went to the doctor." Haley was trying really hard not to cry, this was the harder than she thought.

"Dan went to my house. He asked me about the baby and I tried to deny I was pregnant but he said he knew the truth and he had seen the exams. He told me that he knew that you didn't know about the pregnacy because he made sure to know everything that happened to you at the camp."

"Then he told me he'd give me money to do the abort." Haley gasped at her own words. At this point the tears were running freely on her cheeks. Nathan looked like his worst nightmare had happened.

"My dad was livid, he yelled at Dan and told him to get out of our house right away, but Dan was not affected by it, he said he was leaving but before he went out, he threatened me saying that I should take his offer otherwise something bad would happen to me and the baby. I was really scared because Dan was the mayor of the town, I couldn't go to the police asking for help."

"So my parents decided that I should leave the town as soon as possible. They called my aunt that lived in another city and then I stayed there for a while. My parents went back to Tree Hill without me and they never told anyone I was pregnant. I stayed with my aunt for a year and then I moved out. I had a job and I found a place to live with Brian, I also met Kristen who helped us as much as she could." Haley stopped talking and looked and Nathan, who was now sitting on the couch, she couldn't read his expression.

"I'm really sorry Nathan. I couldn't go back to Tree Hill. I was so scared." She tried to approach him but Nathan got up from the couch and went to the front door.

"I have to get out." He spoke.

"Nathan, wait, please." She called for him but he was already gone.

Haley hoped Nathan wouldn't do anything bad. She grabbed her phone and called her friend.

"Hello?"

"He knows it." Haley cried.

"Knows what? Haley, what's going on?" Kristen asked, worried about her friend.

"I just told Nathan about the whole story. That he is Brian's dad and what Dan did." Haley explained.

"Oh my God. How did he take it?"

"I couldn't tell. He looked broken and lost and confused but then his face went blank and I tried to reach him but he left the apartment. I don't know where he went."

"Okay, just calm down Haley." She told her friend. "He probably went out to clear his head. Do you want me to go over there?" Kristen offered.

"No, it's fine. I just hope he comes back soon. I kept thinking what he might be doing."

"Don't think like that Haley. Look, you have to calm down. Take some deep breaths, go drink some water and sit down. I'm gonna stay here talking to you as you wait for Nathan to go back there, okay?" She suggested.

"Okay, thank you Kristen." Haley said. She did what Kristen told her and went to the kitchen to drink a glass of water.

"Where's Brian?"

"He's at Mike's."

"That's good. You and Nathan need some time alone to talk."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be able to tell all the truth to him with Brian here." She knew she still needed to tell Brian the truth but she needed to do one thing at time.

"And how did it happen?" Kristen asked.

"I had just came from work when I saw Nathan standing in the living room holding the bracelet that he gave to me."

"Oh no."

"Yeah, my heart dropped when I saw the look on his face."

"I'm so sorry Hales. But at least now the truth is out."

"I know. I kept thinking of many ways to tell Nathan everything, and I always waited for the right time but the truth was that there wasn't a right time." She sighed and looked at the front door once again, hoping Nathan would show up soon.

* * *

Nathan kept walking, he didn't know for how long he had been doing that but it seemed like forever. Everything Haley had just told him kept playing in his head.

He couldn't describe the feelings he had for his dad right now, but he knew that if he found him right now, he would't be able to control his anger. He knew her dad was a bastard, but he didn't know he was so cold hearted.

He didn't want to think about that man right now, nor ever again. He had other things to focus on, like his son.

He was a father.

Nathan couldn't believe it. All those years living by himself at his bachelor apartment he wondered if he was always going to live alone but now he found out that he had a son. And with the woman he loved.

"Haley." Nathan said. She must be worried trying to find out where he was. He looked at his cellphone and saw the battery was gone.

He was so stunned with all he heard that all he wanted to do was got out and clear his head. His mind was so full of thoughts that he didn't hear Haley calling his name before he left the apartment.

It wasn't easy for her either, he shouldn't have left her alone in the apartment. He had to go back.

He needed to go back and talk to her.


	13. Chapter 13

First I wanna say I'm so sorry for taking so long to update this fic and I also wanna thank you for all the reviews. Over 100 reviews, thank you so much everyone! Here's the new chapter:

**Chapter 13**

When Nathan went back to Haley's apartment, the door was still unlocked since he had left earlier so he opened it and searched for Haley but she wasn't in the room. He was about to go to her bedroom when he saw her coming from the kitchen. He noticed her face was a little red, she had been crying.

Haley found him standing on her living room, she thought she was seeing things. She had spent so much time waiting for him to come back that any noise she heard she thought it was him.

"You came back." She whispered.

"Yeah." He replied softly.

"I was worried about where you did go." She confessed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you." He sighed rubbing the back of his head. "I just needed some time to think."

"I see." She said quietly, nodding her head.

"I'm so sorry Nathan, for everything."

"Hey hey, you don't have to apologize Haley. It was not your fault, the contrary, I cannot believe that bastard threatened you."

"Forget him. He's not worth it." She pleaded, shaking her head.

"But Haley-"

"Please, Nathan." Haley put her arms around him, hugging Nathan. She was so relieved to see him there back in her living room. She had been so worried waiting for him after she had told him the truth and saw him walk away.

"Okay." He finally conceded, resting his chin on her head.

"We have more important things to focus on." Haley reminded him. "We need to tell Brian." She was a little nervous to tell the truth to him but a big part of her was happy because now she was able to finally tell her son who his father was. And she had no doubts that Brian would be very happy with the news.

"Do you think we should call him?" Nathan asked.

"No. It's been too much for tonight, besides he's busy studying. I'm gonna tell him tomorrow." Haley stated.

"Can you give me a call before?"

"Of course."

Haley rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Come on, you should go sleep." Nathan said.

"Can you stay here with me for a while?"

"Yeah." He kissed her forehead and put his arms around her.

"Thank you." She murmured with her face buried into his chest.

* * *

After an exhausting day, the rest of the evening had been very relaxing for Haley. Nathan stayed with her for a while and they talked about their life when they had been apart from each other. Things they had been avoiding talking to each other but now there was nothing holding them back.

On the next day, Haley woke up feeling a lot better. Telling the truth to Nathan made Haley feel much more relieved, as much as it scared and it pained her to bring back all those memories and feelings, the aftermath had definitely been paid of.

She had woken up early to make breakfast for Brian and his friend because she knew that as soon as they were up, they'd go straight to her apartment to eat since Adam's mom didn't cook.

She was getting the table ready when she heard the voices of the boys coming from the other room.

"Go watch your hands first." She yelled, knowing they'd go straight to the kitchen.

Right after she had finished everything she saw the boys heading over to the kitchen, showing their hands to her. "All clean." Brian said.

"Good."

"Everything looks delicious." Brian commented looking at the table. He licked his lips involuntarily.

"And smells good, too!" Adam added, rubbing his hands together as he looked at all the food.

"Since you guys spent the whole night studying and didn't play video game at all," she winked at them knowing that her statement was probably not true. "I thought you two would probably wake up very hungry. So dig in."

Haley didn't have to say it twice.

* * *

Haley waited for Brian to come back from school so she could talk to him. First she had called Nathan asking if he could come over and he agreed in a hearbeat. He was feeling a bit anxious, he wanted Brian to know the truth soon but he didn't know how the boy would react.

Haley was waiting in the living room when she heard a knock on the door and went to open it.

"Hey." She greeted him.

"Hey. I came as soon as possible." He said before kissing her.

"It's fine. He's in his room right now."

"Are you going to tell him now?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay." He nodded his head. "Do you want me to go with you?" He asked.

"No. You stay here. I'll go talk to him first and then I'll call you, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

He felt a little bit relieved. Nathan knew that Haley was ten times better with words than he was. She always knew the right way to say things, even the hardest ones. Even though he would like to go help her talk to their son, he would probably mess it up somehow. So he watched Haley go into Brian's bedroom and then he went to sit on the couch. All he could do was wait.

Haley knocked softly on the door and when she heard a response she opened the door a little. "Can I come in?" She asked to her son.

"Of course."

Brian was sitting on the bed reading a book before he closed it and put it on his nightstand. "What's up?" He asked as he watched her mom coming over and sitting on the bed in front of him.

Haley looked at him for a brief moment, her son, her little boy was growing up. She remembered when he was just a baby taking his first steps and when he was a little kid running around their little apartment where they lived years ago.

"Honey, You know that I've always told you that whatever you wanted to know about your dad, I'd tell you the truth, right?" She said, grabbing his hands and holding them with hers.

"I know." The boy nodded his head, his blue eyes staring at her.

"But you never asked much."

"Yeah, I know how much it hurts for you to talk about it, and I was never sure if I really wanted to know the whole truth." He said honestly.

"Well, I think now it's time for me to tell you the truth." She announced, taking a deep breath.

"Oh."

"Now it's the right time. I promise you." She assured her son, rubbing his hands softly.

"O-kay."

"Remember that I had told you that your father gave me that bracelet?" She picked the object in her pocket.

"Yeah." Brian nodded his head in confirtmation.

"We were in highschool, I was his tutor and he gave me this bracelet as a thank you for me helping him with his grades. As we got to know each other more, we started getting closer and we became best friends. We also started falling for each other and we started dating."

"Wait a minute, Nathan once told me that you were his tutor in highschool." Brian spoke, remembering one of the conversations he had with Nathan.

"That's right." She confirmded.

"That means..." Brian trailed off.

"Nathan is your father." Haley finished the sentence.

"I don't understand." Brian said shaking his head. "Did he knew...?"

"No, he didn't know anything. He only found out yesterday." Haley responded quickly.

"What happened mom?" The boy asked, his expression showed sadness and confusion. It broke Haley's heart to see her son like that.

"It's really complicated but I can tell you that Nathan wasn't around when I found out I was pregnant, he was at a basketball camp and I had to leave town before he was back. I'm so sorry son." She started crying feeling guilty for hiding this secret for so many years.

"It's okay mom. I don't understand everything but I trust you." He told her, wiping the tears away from Haley's face. She couldn't help but close her eyes and kiss his hand. She thanked God for having such an amazing son.

"I love you so much." She hugged him tightly.

"I love you too."

She kissed his face before she broke their embrace to look him in the eyes.

"Look honey, in all of that I can assure you one thing: Nathan has always been a great guy and I have no doubts that if I had told him that I was pregnant, he would've been one hundrend percent supportive. And when I had told him yesterday that you are his son, he was surprised but also very happy." She said. "He asked me to call him when I told you the truth so he's here in the living room waiting. Can I tell him to come over here?"

"I don't know, mom."

"Just talk to him a little. It's important for both of you." She pleaded.

"Okay." She smiled a little at his response and kissed his forehead before she got out of the bed.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

She left his bedroom and went to the other room where Nathan was sitting on the couch shaking his legs impatiently. He immediately got up when he saw her.

"I talked to him." Haley stated.

"Did you tell him that I'm his father?" Nathan couldn't help but ask.

"Yes. I also told him you were here and wanted to talk to him."

"Are you coming?"

"No, it's better for you two to talk alone with each other." She said squeezing his hand before he went to talk to his son.

Nathan opened the door and found Brian sitting on the bed.

"Hey Brian."

"Hi." The boy answered.

"Haley said she told you the truth." He started lamely.

"Yeah."

Nathan decided to tell his son what he had been thinking in the living while he waited.

"Look, Brian when I met you at the park, I didn't know who you were, or that you were Haley's son but since that day I felt a conection with you. And even when I found out that Haley was your mother and we're started dating, I still cared about you." Nathan tried to read the boy's expression before he continued. "I'm not asking for anything but I'm hoping that this bond we have doesn't break now."

"I don't hate you." Brian stated. "But I need some time to get used to the fact that you're my dad."

"That's completely fine. I understand." Nathan nodded his head in agreement.

"Because till sometime ago, to me you were the Nathan Scott, the famous NBA player. Then I met Nathan, a really cool guy that played video game with me, then I met my mom's boyfriend and now..."

"Your father." Nathan completed.

"Yeah."

"Brian, I'm still the same person. The only different is that now we can get to know each other more as father and son."

"I know that, but like I said, I need to get used to it."

"I understand." Nathan spoke. After a moment of silence he continued.

"I guess I better be going, it's kind of late and you have school and I have training tomorrow." Nathan said getting up as he looked at his watch. "We can talk to each other more later."

"Okay."

"Okay." Nathan repeated shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn't know what else to say, he actually wanted to go over Brian and hug him but maybe it was too soon for that, he didn't want to pressure the boy. "Have a goodnight, Brian."

"Nathan," The boy called his father's name. "My mom has always told me that my dad was a great guy. And she was right." Brian smiled a little. "Goodnight, Nathan."

Nathan smiled back. "Goodnight."

"How was the conversation?" Haley asked when she saw Nathan walking out of the other room.

"It was good." He tried to assure her but she noticed a little sadness in face.

"I'm sorry, Nathan."

"Shh, don't be."

"I can't help but feel guilty about this whole situation."

"Haley, it's not your fault. We're all victims. There's only one person to blame: my father."

"Let's not talk about him. We need to focus on us, the tree of us."

"I know."

"Just the three of us. That's all that matters." She leaned up to kiss him.

Haley sighed happily in Nathan's arms. She had always been scared of the outcome but luckily everything went well. Haley was happy that finally her family was together, not completely but this was just the beginning.

**TBC**


End file.
